Will Johnston. Photo/George Novak
Upstairs For Beers.
That's the intention-rich name of the touch rugby team I play for! We head directly up to the clubrooms for a 'stringent' liquid debrief after our mid-week social touch game. I love social sport.
There's something about playing sport with a group of mates, giving it a
real good crack on the field but also having a laugh at it when it all goes horribly wrong! Or at someone when they screw it up a little (frequently I'm the subject of this — think baby giraffe running), or even at the other team. Because they are usually laughing at themselves too!
I'm a super competitive person, but it really did take me until my 30s to learn that competitive doesn't mean you can't enjoy the whole process and even find good in the losses. Last season we didn't win a single game — we played 21 year olds.
That was never going to end well for us, the majority in our early 30s, butI loved pretty much every minute of it. I was competitive with myself —I wanted to get better each week, or atleastlearn something aboutthe game, and if we lost it didn't matter, because I felt like I was improving each week. By improving I mean I only left ONE of my lungs on the field at the end of each game by the end ofthe season.
